Minutes of Public Meeting

7 pm Wednesday 3 April 2019 Southern Cross Club Estimated attendance: Fifty five

1 Welcome: President, Fiona Carrick, welcomed and thanked attendees.  MLAs in attendance:  Mr Alistair Coe, Leader of the ACT Liberal Party  Ms Caroline Le Couteur

2 Minutes of the last meeting held on 6 March 2019 - Not Discussed.

3 Chair Report:  Our presenters will explain to us who does what with respect to urban renewal  Clarification of misconceptions:  the WVCC is not anti-development - we want development to be done well, with the needs of the community at the forefront of planning, including planning for public spaces and community facilities. If we had a plan we could stage development of community facilities  A recent media article said that there are people who talk down developments. While we may have a view about some of the developments in Woden - o the WVCC does not talk Woden down o Woden is our home and we want the best outcomes for our community  The Woden Experiment – the Town Square is looking great with people stopping and using the nature play and the table tennis table  We need active fronts around the square – eg cafes, pubs and book stalls  A reminder of the original planning for Woden included the east west community link, what happened to it? The Master Plan includes a map of opportunities which includes the east west link. What are the opportunities to re-instate the link and make it better?  The zoning provides for 28 storeys around the perimeter of the Town Square which allows 3 hours of sunlight on a quarter of the square in the winter solstice.  We are very concerned about Arabanoo Park as it has been zoned from open green space to community facilities and is on the land release program.  We are also very concerned that we are losing green space – we have lost the Alexander and Albemarle courtyards, the pitch n putt, the Athllon Drive corridor and we want Arabanoo Park back.  The Woden Town Centre Master Plan does not identify the cemetery so it looks like there is a lot of green space.

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 The new bus network  There are currently 61 services between Woden and the City between 7 and 9am.  R4 - the new bus timetable has 40 services from Woden to the City o 23 direct services o 17 via Alfred Deakin operating on school days only  We will check this fact with the Transport Directorate  The WVCC proposal for the multi-purpose sports hall will go on the web site  The lady on the bike on the WOVA bunting was dressed by someone.  Fetes -  Torrens fete - the ACT Government consulted with the community about the preferred playground for an upgrade and the types of play equipment  The Curtin fete is on Saturday from 10am to 2pm.

4 5 minutes from MLAs Mr Alistair Coe, Leader of the ACT Liberal Party

 There are no shortage of issues in Canberra  Town Centres  Canberra is at its best when the town centres are operating properly, Woden is the centre of our commercial and retail activity. Suburbs should be suburbs and town centre should be town centres.  We should have minimum and maximum buildings heights  We need to simplify the Territory Plan, it is way too complex and not good for community participation and knowledge of property rights. It is a point in time document and is negotiable, it should be more definitive as a document guiding development in the City  In order for the Town Centre to thrive there should be community facilities, the future of the pool is uncertain, and maintence of what green space there is, is an issue. It shouldn’t be that hard.  Light rail  Stage1 of the light rail is nearly complete. 15% of the Gungahlin residents live within 1 km of a light rail stop. Bus connections should be smooth and park n ride facilities are vital  Stage 2 – is it a commuter service or is it a stopping all stations local service. It has to be fast to make it a more attractive proposition. For decades the intertown spine, , Woden, City, has been the heart of the bus network and for about 15 years we have had an integrated network where the local buses in Tuggeranong and Belconnen become the express. Once you take away the Woden to City spine everyone south of Woden has to transfer on to the tram. This is a big strategic decision about how public transport works in Canberra,  Rates  It is one thing to be able to afford rates, and if you can, are you getting value for money? Some people say Canberra was cleaner 10 years ago and people are not optimistic that Canberra’s best days are ahead of us. There needs to be renewed focus on urban services, management of street trees, mowing and irrigated spaces to restore pride. If the government takes pride in our local areas it is far more likely that the community will have pride in their areas.

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 Commercial rates  Businesses are doing it tough  If the unimproved value is $600,000 or more then the ratings factor is 5%. As a comparison, residential rates are 0.5%.  The rates are passed on to the tenants and the value of the property decreases because the yield decreases. If we are not careful we will have businesses go under.  It is good news that the Department of Health has renewed its lease for 16 years.

Questions

 Have you considered a Royal Commission for light rail?  There are mixed views about light rail but it is here now and we need to make it work  We hope the government is going to present the business case for stage 2, the financial studies not just the economic studies  The light rail will have to stop numerous times to Civic  Stage 1 - had an accepted problem and a positive transport benefit of a few minutes  Stage 2 - if the tram is going to be slower than the buses then there is a negative transport benefit which means there has got to be other compelling reasons to put it in, if it is not better than the current arrangements.

Ms Caroline Le Couteur

 Pleased that the Department of Health is staying and it is good that the Alexander and Albemarle buildings are being recycled.  Hot buildings – as we are rebuilding Canberra we need to build for the future climate  Tree petition – over 1400 signatures

Presentations

5 Woden Community Service

Ms Jenny Kitchin - CEO

 400 staff and 100 volunteers working in many areas mental health, housing support, family support, aged care, disability etc..  Celebrating 50 years and we are seeking ideas about how we can best celebrate it

Ms Casey Armstrong – Community Development Officer

 Working on activation of the Woden Experiment  to create a connected space for the community  changing the way people behave in the space  Encouraging people and businesses to organise events or book the space  You can go to the library to get table tennis bats and croquet sets.

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Questions

 There was a discussion about the access to the Town Square and the need for community facilities and events. There was positive feedback about the Woden Experiment.

6 Suburban Land Agency – Mr John Dietz, CEO

 The SLA is the ACT Government’s land delivery agency and has some urban renewal responsibilities. It has control over green field development, some urban renewal requirements and looks after Government’s sale of land  Do not have unrestricted ability to decide where to do urban renewal  All profit goes back to the Government in the form of dividends so if the SLA spends money out of profits, it is spending Government funds which is not appropriate  The Government makes decisions on the sale of land and urban renewal through the land release program  EPSDD hold the policy levers and do the due diligence and tell the SLA where to work.  It was a decision to split the responsibility for making the decision about what land to sell and how you would go about selling it.  The SLA is required to balance social, environmental and financial outcomes  Indicative land release program Junction (Strathgordon)  The Federal Government’s Asset Recycling Initiative provides the ACT Government with 15% of the asset sale value, including Strathgordon which has been sold to AJP  Place and Design Manual eg sustainability, landscaping, density o 9 design principles were included with the sales document  National Capital Review Panel will assess DAs for the achievement of outcomes  Pre DA community consultation required S 80(Arabanoo Park) 2021-22 land release  Due diligence needs to be done before it is determined how the site is taken to market  Are the traffic studies appropriate given all the development? Athllon Drive  Due diligence for traffic, storm water etc .. still needs to be done

Questions

 Will the new Healthy Waterway pond on Athllon Drive stay?  yes  Are the carparks near Arabanoo Park on the land release program?  yes  Principles are subjective so we are likely to have different views?  Experts in the Design Review Panel will look at outcomes  How do you get the Design Review Pane to assess a proposal?  Key sites in town centres that have impacts on the community should be assessed

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 Does the Design Review Panel have a community representative?  Perhaps it could be considered and the output of the community engagement is an input to the Design Review Panel  N12 would love a Design Review Panel assessment  Are there processes in place to ensure the proposal put to the Design Review Panel is the same as what is submitted in the DA?  What is built is what they have approval to build  Do the proposals look at the impact on amenity, the heat island effect, wind etc ..  The Place and Design Manual will look at these matters  Junction – 492 is the maximum yield  Why was there 15% social housing at Strathgordon but not the Inner South sites (Stuart Flats and Gowrie Court) sold at the same time?  It was a decision of the Planning Directorate  Can we get involved in the lease conditions for huge developments?  The responsibility lies with the EPSDD.

7 ACT Planning Directorate – Mr Rod Baxter

CIT

 Asbestos in the buildings so they will be demolished  Site will be established as dry land grass in the short term and parking will remain accessible  The DA will be advertised in the next couple of weeks with demolition in the second half of the year  What will the site be used for? – firstly ask education and health for their requirements over the next up to 20 years – need to understand population growth, is there a need for another school? These questions need to be asked.

Questions

 The WVCC will continue to advocate for health and education facilities on the site but it is very difficult to know what to do without a plan for sites for social facilities in the Town Centre  Why can’t the building be re-used and the markets moved back in?  Asbestos issue is driving the issue  Could it be a dog park?  Put ideas forward,  How big is the block?  it is 5.5 hectares and zoned for community facility land  There is no tertiary facility in the south of Canberra apart from the world’s smallest CIT in Tuggeranong and higher education should be encouraged on this site  We need to understand the demographic changes

Community Centre

 The Woden Community Service requires new accommodation as the current site is too small and not accessible

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 The Belconnen facility has a number of spaces that can be used for a variety of activities  We need a prominent street address, close to public transport, good pick up and drop off, a child and family centre and a not for profit child care etc ..  Explored different delivery options, to meet all of the criteria it is Territory owned building  Proposed location on the north side of Woden Town Park between the drains and Callam Offices.  We should imagine Callam St as being developed and imagine a Town Hall type building near the light rail stop  Seeking design funds in the Budget

Questions

 Is the site big enough?  There is a process to go through  Is it on the Park?  It is on a commercial zoned block of land  The proposal would involve the construction of a child care on Arabanoo Park?  Could we rationalise the two child care centres and not build a second one on Arabanoo Park?  This site provides an opportunity to build onto the park and provide another town square option for festivals and events  What will happen to the existing Woden Community Centre site?  zoned for community facility land eg aged care  Where are we going to put the multi-purpose sports hall?  What are the people going to do in Woden with no community facilities, just eat and drink?  It is supposed to be a regional hub for the wider region, how are we implementing the Vision in the Woden Town Centre Master Plan?

Meeting finished

Next meeting first Wednesday of May 2019

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